Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Thrums Hawaiian Annual(a.k.a. The Hawaiian Almanac and Annual) is a major research tool for all kinds of information dealing with Hawaii. Beginning in 1875 and running (in various forms and names) through the 1970s, the annual (particularly in its early decades) is an extremely valuable source of information on everything from economic statistics and Hawaiian government rosters to obituaries, events of the day, historical essays and much more.

In recent years, many of the early editions of Thrums have found their way online via Google Books. Recognizing that Google does not always correctly display serial publications--for instance, citation dates don't always match the text being displayed--Martha Chantiny, UH-M Library's Head of Desktop Network Services, has over time been mounting more reliable versions of Thrum's on the Library's eVols open-access site. To date, most of the editions between 1875 and 1895 are available on the eVols site, while Google has posted a near-complete run from 1875 through 1923 on the web. (Editions from 1924 on are still protected by copyright, and so cannot be posted online). In both instances, the text is fully searchable.

Hawaii Specialist Librarian Dore Minatodani recently gathered both the Google Books versions and the Library's Evol's versions together to create an online finding aid that allows access to both collections from one site. To get there, click here.

About Us

The Hawaiian & Pacific Collections are located on the fifth floor of Hamilton Library, on the campus of University of Hawaii-Manoa. For general questions about either collection, contact: hawnpac@hawaii.edu This blog began publishing on Oct. 30, 2009, and is edited by Pacific specialist librarian Stu Dawrs. Contact: dawrs@hawaii.edu